In Texas, Teacher Fired for Refusing to Sign Anti-BDS Oath

Bahia Amawi, a primary school teacher in Texas who was fired for refusing to sign an anti-BDS oath. (Photo: via Social Media)

A primary school teacher in Texas has been fired for refusing to sign an anti-BDS oath embedded in her employment contract.

Bahia Amawi is a language specialist who works with autistic and speech-impaired primary school children.

She has been told that she can no longer work in the state’s public schools after she “refused to sign an oath vowing that she ‘does not’ and ‘will not’ engage in a boycott of Israel or ‘otherwise take any action that is intended to inflict economic harm [on Israel]’,” the Intercept revealed yesterday.

Ya its basic but still brave to give up ur source of income.Heroize her pls, rt or tweet re Bahia Amawi who wasfired 'after she declined to sign a pledge that she would “not boycott Israel during the term of the contract” or act 'to penalize, inflict economic harm on…Israel' pic.twitter.com/a32DBKdAx4

Amawi has held a contract with Pflugerville Independent School District – the body which oversees schools in and around Texas state capital Austin – for almost ten years, but upon renewing her contract in August discovered an additional clause had been inserted into the paperwork.

The clause required Amawi to pledge that she “does not currently boycott Israel,” that she “will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract” and that she will refrain from any action “that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel, or with a person or entity doing business in Israeli or in an Israel-controlled territory.”

A Texas elementary school speech pathologist (Bahia Amawi, a U.S. citizen) refused to sign a pro-'israel' oath, now mandatory in many states — so she lost her job!👎😡🤬A CHILDREN’S SPEECH PATHOLOGIST who has worked for the last nine years …Read more: https://t.co/IMmbboWjPr

Such phrasing would effectively bar Amawi from supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, boycotting goods produced on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank or even expressing support for either of these actions since, as the Intercept points out, “such speech could be seen as ‘intended to penalise, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel’.”

Speaking to the Intercept, Amawi explained:

“It’s baffling that [the school district] can throw this [clause] down our throats and decide to protect another country [Israel]’s economy versus protecting our [US] constitutional rights. If I [signed the contract], I would not only be betraying Palestinians suffering under an occupation that I believe is unjust and thus, become complicit in their repression, but I’d also be betraying my fellow Americans by enabling violations of our constitutional rights to free speech and to protest peacefully.”

Upon refusing to sign the contract, Amawi was told by her school district supervisor that her employment would not be renewed.

"They decide to protect another country’s economy versus protecting our constitutional rights." Bahia Amawi, an American citizen of Palestinian descent, lost her school job in Texas for refusing to sign a pro-Israel oathhttps://t.co/PvmG08bjRR

The incident has sparked a fierce legal debate, with Amawi filing a lawsuit which argues the clause violates her right to free speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

The clause was entered into Amawi’s contract after Texas enacted a law in May 2017 prohibiting state agencies from signing contracts with companies that boycott Israel.

Texas teacher fired for refusing to sign anti-BDS oath Middle East Monitor A primary school teacher in Texas has been fired for refusing to sign an anti-BDS oath embedded in her employment contract. Bahia Amawi is a language … https://t.co/4O1y5E2Ay3pic.twitter.com/bHTOlvXPTN

Texas is not the only US state to have enacted an anti-BDS law. Illinois became the first state to adopt such legislation in 2015, with a further 25 states following this model since then, including the State of New York, California and Florida. A further 13 states have anti-BDS legislation pending, including Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington.

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3 Comments

Zionist Israel’s glory days are soon coming to a final end. Palestine and BDS will be FREE! Long live Palestine. God bless this brave soul, Bahia Amawi for speaking out and bringing much needed urgent global attention to this serious issue that is becoming outrageously out of control.

Shame on the US, what about the 2nd Amendment and your other rights. Who comes first in your country?? I thought you pledged allegience to your own kith and kin, not to a faraway land, and certainly not to get sacked for siding with another country rather than your own??? The world has gone mad!!!!

Oh, and by the way, I am also against oppression and bullying and state sponsored terrorism of innocent women and children also in that place called Israel.

I could have a gun to my head, and never in a month of Sundays would I pledge allegience to that country.

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